Saving Me, Saving You
by romanticgirlgeek
Summary: Post Season 6 - Olivia has lost her gladiator white hat and fallen off the edge. Can Fitz save her and help her find Vermont? Rated M for adult themes and sexual content.
1. A Fallen Gladiator (Revised)

**Posted on June 11, 2017**

 **Author's Note:**

 **This fanfic is for me to deal with the frustration of the Season 6 ending so I am working through the storyline and plot in my head as I am writing it.**

 **I hope you will enjoy and be patient with me as I might be revising as I go and be slow in posting new installments.**

 **To avoid any IP lawsuits, the usual disclaimer:** _ **Scandal**_ **characters belong to SR and her production company.**

* * *

 _Fifteen months after Mellie's inauguration/Fitz leaving office_

Former President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, dressed in black tie, was making his round through the large crowd that gathered at a DC five-star hotel reception hall for the black-tie fundraiser dinner for his foundation, The Justice Project which he was president and Chief Executive Officer. The Justice Project focused on redressing wrongful convictions and providing social and financial support to families who have family members who have been wrongfully convicted. It was the cocktail hour and it was the time when he would meet and greet the supporters and generous donors who came out in support for the foundation. However, Fitz's sense of elation from seeing so much support for his foundation was tempered with a feeling of something not being right, either, as if something bad was about to happen or has happened and he was waiting to get word about it.

 _Focus. Focus,_ Fitz silently told himself while he was chatting with George Soros. George Soros had been one of the foundation's generous donors with a sizeable donation of $250,000 and he couldn't give the impression to George that he was distracted elsewhere. George was asking him questions about splitting time between DC and Vermont, Karen and Teddy, and his opinion on the general state of current affairs. Fitz knew as a former POTUS, people would be asking him questions about the state of domestic and international affairs. He was also smart enough to know that some people would be asking to see how critical he was of Mellie as the country's current POTUS, and had been successful in avoiding fall into the trap of sounding critical of her.

Fitz joked with George about his less than successful attempt in thinking outside the box on choosing the location for his foundation. Despite his intention of wanting to set up his foundation in Vermont, Fitz quickly realized there was a reason as to why foundations don't get set up off the beaten track. When forming his board, Fitz had a hard time convincing his list of VIP board of directors to come to Vermont for meetings. Board members were more inclined to travel to major cities for meetings – even though they would be passing through the city for the meeting but they could tie in other social activities with the meeting. Even though Bennington, Vermont was a lovely city, it didn't have same allure as NYC, DC, or LA. Rather than trying to fight a losing battle, he and Marcus, his Chief Operating Officer for the foundation, re-grouped and planned their move.

While he and Marcus considered the possibility of moving the foundation to NYC or even to Santa Barbara, his hometown when he was Governor of California, they ultimately chose Washington DC for its political connection. They decided if they wanted to effect change in the criminal justice system, it would have to involve changes in law and policy at all three levels of government – local, state, and federal. A network of affiliates was being established in major cities around country with the goal of reform at the local and state levels, while the foundation itself focused its efforts at the federal level.

However, rather than moving the foundation right away, Fitz knew he needed time to decompress after being in the White House for 8 years. For the first six months after leaving office, he took time to enjoy Vermont, learn how to fly fish, and to live in the house he had built for him and Olivia. He finally made the house more habitable by furnishing it. There were some rooms which he still left unfurnished, such as the room that would have been a nursery for his and Olivia's children. There was a part of him that was holding onto the hope that one day the nursery would get used for its intended purpose.

Nonetheless, the Vermont house was still too big for him and Teddy, and even with Karen coming to stay on the weekends when she was still at boarding school. The living arrangement was now a DC townhouse for him and Teddy during the week and weekends in Vermont since Teddy officially started school. He currently had a modified custodial arrangement with Mellie concerning Teddy, with Teddy living with him instead. Fitz wasn't sure what prompted Mellie to let him have Teddy, perhaps, now that she got what she really wanted, the Oval, she no longer felt the need to punish him. Karen, now an undergrad at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore with plans to major in economics and a minor in social policy, moving back to DC worked out for the best so he could also have time with Karen. In a way, the foundation brought them closer with Karen being a volunteer for the foundation when she was available given the reasonable commuting distance between Baltimore and DC.

During the past nine months, he and Marcus focused their attention on establishing the foundation in DC. What Fitz hadn't expected was getting unsolicited help from his former Attorney General David Rosen, his former Vice President Susan Ross, and Quinn Perkins and Associates which included his former Chief of Staff Abby Whelan.

David had been asked to stay on as Attorney General under Mellie's administration to which he declined politely on the grounds that he needed re-assess the direction of his legal career after the events that lead to Mellie becoming the President. In the course of the re-assessment, David offered to volunteer his legal expertise on criminal law and prosecution to help with advancing the foundation's work. Instead, Fitz offered him a paid position as Director of Legislative Affairs to oversee the foundation's policy reform initiatives.

Susan had been one of the VIPs who Fitz asked to be on the board of his foundation to which she readily accepted and was the only one of the board members who had no qualms about traveling to Vermont for board meetings. She returned to being a political science professor in Virginia and became part of a multi-disciplinary academic research group at the university where she taught. The research group examined social policy issues which included the topic area of criminal justice. Susan's involvement with the academic research group gave the foundation access to leading scholars on criminal justice, which included Susan's new boyfriend, Philip Bamber, a law school professor whose writing and research focused on wrongful convictions.

Quinn, who "inherited" OPA from Olivia, was now juggling life as wife and a mother with an infant child while running QPA with the help of Abby, Quinn's husband Charlie, and long-time friend/colleague Huck. Quinn's pregnancy was the impetus for her and Abby to consider the future professional direction of QPA. QPA could no longer take on dangerous or life-threatening assignments as "gladiators." Quinn's involvement in helping to secure the pardon for Shawn Campbell provided them food for thought on QPA taking on legal cases like Shawn's. With that, Quinn approached him about QPA being the "foot soldiers" for the foundation's cause – helping the wrongfully convicted incarcerated by providing legal advocacy services with her and Abby providing the services. In other words, he had a team of a very smart and capable gladiators fighting for his cause at the ground level.

Even though he had his own team of gladiators, Fitz knew in his heart and soul, there was only one gladiator for him – Olivia. However, during the past 15 months, he had been out of contact with Olivia. His phone calls to her went unreturned. He left a voice message extending an open invitation for her to come to Vermont for a visit which she never took up. Since moving back to DC, there have been phone calls asking to see her that were ignored. Fitz worked on the presumption Olivia's work situation was too hectic for her to slow down to return his calls. Not to mention he was also busy with getting his foundation launched and there would be times he didn't get back to people.

As Fitz was finishing up his chat with George Soros and moving onto greeting other guests, he noticed his "team" – Marcus, David, Susan, Philip, and the QPA gladiators, all in black-tie, huddled together. Karen who was also attending the fundraiser and wearing an evening gown, looking every much the beautiful, capable, smart young woman he and Mellie raised her to be, was also part of the huddle. A moment later, the huddle broke up with David, Philip and the QPA gladiators exiting out the reception hall while Marcus headed into the direction of the banquet hall where the sit-down dinner was taking place and Karen and Susan glancing around the crowded reception hall looking for someone. Fitz realized it was him who they was looking for and once they found him, they walked towards him.

Fitz stood in his place waiting for them to reach him. "Karen. Susan. Everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything is fine, Dad," responded Karen in an evasive tone. "Are you ready with your big speech?"

"I am," replied Fitz. Fitz had a feeling they was hiding something from him and was about use a "presidential tone" to get them to fill him in when the dinner bell sounded informing the guests that it was time to move into the banquet hall for the dinner. Fitz checked his watch and saw there was another 15 minutes left to the cocktail hour before the start of the dinner. When Marcus joined them, Fitz asked, "Why has the dinner bell sounded? We have another 15 minutes with the cocktail reception…"

"Probably a glitch in the system," responded Marcus easily. "Fitz, we need to get inside the banquet hall." After working in one of the most formal work environment and being called Mr. President for 8 years, Fitz wanted his foundation work setting to be professional but without the pretense and wanted his "team" to call him by his first name.

Fitz entered the banquet hall with Karen, Susan and Marcus at his side, and his Secret Service agent, as well as Karen's agents trailing close by. As they were walking towards their table, Fitz had the feeling the three of them were preventing him from being side-tracked into greeting the guests as they were leading him to their table.

They were about to sit at their table with the other assigned guests at their table, one of them being Shawn Campbell who Fitz granted a pardon to and the "poster-child" for the foundation's cause, when Marcus's cell phone rang. Marcus move aside to take the call and Fitz could hear Marcus speaking in loud voice. "We can't start confiscating people's cell phones…"

Fitz's raised one his eyebrows when he heard Marcus's declaration and was about to get out his seat to walk over to where Marcus was standing to ask him what was going on when he heard one of the guests sitting his table exclaimed while looking at her cell phone, "Oh my God, Olivia Pope turned in herself to the FBI for treason!"


	2. The Betrayal

**Posted on June 11, 2017**

 **Author's Note:**

 **Thank you so much for your interest in my fan fic story. Special thanks to those who are following and/or favored the story on their fan fic list.**

 **For those of you who are following the story and are picking up from this chapter, I made couple of revisions in Chapter 1 in order for the contents of this chapter to make sense.**

 **Treason is the only crime that is defined in the US Constitution. So I had to come up with a crime that was bad enough that it could fall into the definition but not so despicable. However, what I came up with might be over the top for some readers' taste, though.**

* * *

After recovering from the initial shock of hearing the news that Olivia had turned herself in to the FBI for committing treason, Fitz got up from his seat at the banquet table and walked quickly out the banquet hall with Marcus and Karen following behind and Fitz's and Karen's Secret Service agents on their heels. Marcus and Karen managed to catch up to Fitz once they were outside the banquet hall in the reception hall.

Marcus managed to block Fitz in his tracks and said, "Fitz, I know you are worried about Olivia. We are all but we can't let what is happening to Olivia distract us from what we are doing tonight. This is an important night for you and your work. There are a lot of people counting on you, people like Shawn Campbell, who need a miscarriage of justice to be corrected and the work we are doing with the foundation will give them a chance to have justice served."

Karen then interjected, "Dad, we were going to tell you about Olivia but after the dinner. We were trying to prevent you from finding out beforehand so you wouldn't be distracted. Huck and Charlie were going try to block the guests' cell phone reception from accessing any outside media sources but I guess they weren't able to."

She paused before continuing on, "Mom was trying to call you but you had your phone off. She called me instead, in a state of hysterics, muttering the FBI Director and a team of agents came storming into White House with warrants. She had no idea that Olivia went to the FBI. They were there to gather evidence - taking computers and packing up files. I told Marcus what was happening and he talked with Mom."

Marcus followed on, "I spoke with the President. I won't lie to you. The situation is serious. After the dinner, there will be a car to take you over to the White House and the President will tell you what she knows. Meanwhile, David and Phil are calling through their Justice Department rolodex to get more info on Olivia's confession and the QPA team is using their resources to find out what is going on as well. Fitz, we need to get back inside. By now, all the guests know what is happening but we need to stay focus on what we are doing tonight, as least for next few hours. Once the dinner is over, you can head over the White House and I will deal with the post-dinner "meet-greet-thank yous."

"All right," said Fitz while nodding his head and three of them plus the Secret Service agents returned to banquet hall. As they walked back to their table, Fitz could already hear the whispered comments about Olivia confessing to the FBI about committing treason and his personal relationship with Olivia. Fortunately, the guests at his table had enough tact not to ask questions about Olivia. Fitz didn't know if Susan gave them a firm but gentle warning not to by reminding them of the good work that the foundation was trying to achieve and tonight was not the night to be focused on gossip mongering.

Somehow, Fitz managed to put on his best presidential, albeit he was a former president, game face throughout the dinner, and even received standing ovation after he gave his speech. Yet, during the dinner, he was also thinking about Olivia and what was happening with her. He knew the statutory language for committing treason in the US is specifically defined – a person starting a war against the US or gives aid or support to enemies of the US and the act of giving aid or support had to be done here in the US. He also knew the law only applied during times of war. The only war the US was technically engaged in was with terror groups. _Oh God, Livie, what have you done?_ He silently anguished with the thought on how could his number one white hat gladiator fallen so far.

Once the dinner was over, while Marcus stayed behind to say good bye to the guests and to thank them for coming, Fitz, Karen and their Secret Service agents were settled into a town car that was taking them to the White House. Fitz's agent pulled out his cell phone from him inner coat to call the White House to let them know they were en route. After he put his phone away, he turned and said to Fitz, "Mr. Grant, I've been instructed to bring you directly to the Oval."

Being called "Mr. Grant" in his post presidential life might seem to be a letdown but Fitz knew from a "proper" protocol-etiquette standpoint it was appropriate out of respect to the current office holder of "President" - there is only one president at a time. He had been told a proper alternative would be to use the highest title he held before becoming President which was Governor. This practice would be following in the tradition of George Washington, who after leaving office wished be called General Washington, the title he held before becoming the country's first POTUS. However, being called Governor seemed rather weird after holding the highest office in the land, hence he settled for being plain old "Mr. Grant" even though he still was publicly addressed as "Mr. President" out of respect.

The car drove through the West Wing gate and stopped in front of the West Wing entrance. After getting out of the car, Fitz, Karen, and their agents walked through the door and greeted the guard on the duty. As they walked through the West Wing, Fitz noticed the office that belonged to Olivia in her capacity as White House Chief of Staff was taped off since it was now regarded as a crime scene. It broke Fitz's heart to see the tape and to know Olivia was the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

Karen went to sit on the sofa in the outer waiting room that was couple doors away from the Oval with her agents in the hallway. Fitz removed his outer coat and left it with Karen before he and his agent headed to the Oval. When they were standing in front of the door leading into the Oval, the agent guarding the door opened the door for Fitz to enter through. When he walked into the Oval, he found Mellie sitting on the sofa drinking hooch out a mason jar. Fitz knew Mellie never acquired a taste for malted liquor and being a true Southern girl at heart, hooch would be her choice of poison. After she was done drinking, Mellie said, "There is scotch in the decanter. It's the good stuff that Queen Elizabeth sends to us."

"Thanks, Mellie," said Fitz as he poured some scotch from a decanter that was sitting on a side table into a glass tumbler. He sat down next to Mellie on a sofa. Each of them took a healthy drink of their choice of poison. While Fitz was drinking, he undid his tuxedo bow tie. Afterwards, he asked, "What's going on, Mellie?"

"The FBI was trying to keep it under wraps about Olivia showing up at their office but unfortunately it was leaked out to the press. The FBI is not going public about what Olivia did until they can corroborate it, and I'm doing the song and dance with the White House Press Corps about it being "on-going investigation" and can't talk about it."

"What did Olivia do that would constitute treason?"

"Olivia has been helping the Bandar government re-start its nuclear weapons program."

"What?!" exclaimed Fitz. The US-Bandar non-nuclear proliferation agreement was his crowning achievement in foreign policy before he left office. "Why would she do that?"

"She said she is being blackmailed by the Bandar government."

"For what?"

"She won't say. She is invoking the 5th Amendment."

"Oh, damn." Fitz knew if Olivia was invoking the 5th Amendment, it meant what she was being blackmailed for had a criminal aspect to it and she was trying to prevent self-incrimination.

"How was Olivia helping the Bandaris re-start their nuclear program?" Fitz figured the FBI Director would be filling in Mellie with the details of what they were discovering during their interrogation with Olivia.

"She was helping them purchase enriched uranium. The Bandaris were bypassing the process of enriching the uranium themselves. They would have to build facilities to do that and that would have drawn attention."

"Was she brokering deals between the Bandaris and suppliers?" asked Fitz incredulously.

"No. It was money laundering. Olivia was using a government financial account that only she had access to. It was the B6-13 account. The Bandaris would wire monies into the account and monies would flow out when the Bandaris made a purchase. Using the account would allow the Bandaris to buy the enriched uranium without anyone knowing about it."

Fitz realized Olivia somehow managed to get B6-13 reauthorized. "How did Olivia get B6-13 reauthorized?"

"She duped me into signing the papers for it. The order went through right when I started office," replied Mellie tersely. "I trusted Olivia completely but only to find out she misled me, and not to mention breaking an international treaty and possibly compromising our country's security interests behind my back."

She then said, "No doubt you want to be drowning in the scotch after finding out the love of your life has undermined your foreign policy legacy _._ "

"It's not the exactly the news I want to hear," commented Fitz before taking another drink. He had hoped Olivia resurrected B6-13 because she was being blackmailed. If she had done it when Mellie took office, then Olivia had been hypocritical – it was wrong for him to have resurrected B6-13 but somehow it was permissible for her to do it.

"The Attorney General won't charge Olivia…"

Before Mellie could finish, Fitz interjected, "The US Attorney General cannot charge Olivia with treason…"

Mellie was rendered speechless with Fitz's declaration and Fitz knew he had to explain his reasoning. "Mellie, the statutory language on what constitutes treason in the US is very specific. First, the Treason Clause only applies when we are at war. We are not at war with Bandar. Not to mention the law stipulates aid and support is given to US enemies. We have never declared Bandar as an enemy…

Mellie countered with, "Bandar falls into the group of countries that have supported terrorist groups and provided these groups with sanctuary. Isn't the US fighting a war against terrorism? The fact Bandar provides support to terror groups, doesn't that make them an enemy of the US?"

Fitz knew this would be the argument that Mellie would throw back at him. He replied, "You can make that argument. If I was still POTUS, I would certainly use that line of logic. But seeing it from a criminal defense side, a criminal defense attorney will say you are pushing it. If the US Attorney General does file charges against Olivia on the Treason Clause, and if Olivia has a smart attorney, be prepared for the legal challenge on it."

"At this point, no charges can be filed until there is evidence to show to show she helped the Bandaris purchased the enriched uranium and the Bandaris have secretly restarted their nuclear program with the uranium. Langley is working on the intelligence side to gather the evidence," said Mellie.

"What is the word from the Bandar government about Olivia's claim?" asked Fitz.

"They sent a preliminary communication to State denying Olivia's claim."

"It would make sense that they would be denying the claim."

"Well, yeah, but the way they are denying the claim is creating doubt with State. State doesn't think it sounds like the situation of them covering their butts for being caught but rather they are denying it that it is even true. They have asked me to hold off taking action against Bandar until we can substantiate Olivia's claim."

Mellie added on, "Even though Olivia is taking full responsibility, the FBI Director doesn't think she was in it by herself. The FBI wants to interview everyone in the West Wing. Neither Cyrus nor I are exempted."

Fitz took another drink and realized Cyrus wasn't present. Given Cyrus's temperament and personality, Cyrus would not be an "absent" Vice President under such circumstances. In fact, Cyrus would interject himself into the meetings and debriefings concerning the crisis and would claim it was his job to do so as Vice President. "Mellie, where is Cyrus?

"He was here earlier when the FBI showed up with the warrants. He said something about dealing with the Hill about the news."

What Mellie said didn't make sense to Fitz. Cyrus would want to be at the White House, not at the Capitol talking with members of Congress.

"I know the FBI to trying to schedule time with him for an interview," said Mellie before taking another drink of hooch.

Both Mellie and Fitz knew their relationship got better after they got divorced and Mellie achieving her long held political aspirations. Long held bitter resentments were more or less resolved and they could even be friends with each other. A sign of this changed relationship was demonstrated when she said, "I'm sorry your big night got ruined because of this crisis."

"It wasn't entirely ruined. The dinner went off without any hitches and the generous donors and supporters feel they are supporting a worthy cause," said Fitz with a slight smile. "It's getting late and I know you have a lot to do, so I should let you get back to work. Karen is outside. Do you want to see her before we go?"

"Yeah," replied Mellie and start to pull herself together. She placed the screw top lid back on the mason jar and screwed the lid back on while Fitz set his tumbler on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Both Mellie and Fitz got up from the sofa, and as Mellie headed towards the Resolute Desk so she could store away her jar of hooch, Fitz headed to door to get Karen. A moment later, Fitz returned to the Oval with Karen.

"Hi, Mom."

Mellie seeing her grown daughter in an evening gown made her slightly weepy and said, "Karen, you look so beautiful," as she approached Karen and gave her a hug.

Fitz, thinking mother and daughter should have a private moment together, headed to the door to step out. Before stepping outside, he heard Karen asking, "How are you holding up, Mom?" but didn't hear the answer as he closed the door behind him.

While Fitz waited for Karen in the outer waiting room, Fitz's agent came into the waiting room holding out a cell phone and said, "Mr. Grant, David Rosen is calling. He has been trying to reach you on your cell, sir."

Fitz suddenly realized in the course of being caught up with what was happening, he forgot to turn his cell phone back on. He took the agent's phone and heard David saying, "Fitz, sorry to bother you. I know you are at the White House with the President…"

"It's fine, David. I forgot to turn my phone back on. I just met with the President. She filled me in on the pertinent details. I'll debrief in person. What do you have?"

"It's good that you know what is happening. Phil and I have been getting the run around with everyone is being very tight lipped about it – the usual "it is an ongoing investigation" so they can't discuss it," replied David. He then said, "However, there is something you need to know which I don't think anyone is telling you. Olivia doesn't have legal representation with her."

"What?!" exclaimed Fitz. "Did she just show up at the FBI and started to confess her crime?"

"It seemed so. At least to the FBI credit, they did try to stop her by asking her if she wanted an attorney present before she said anything but she said no." answered David. "I know you wanted to get info about Olivia but there is another reason why I called. I'm here at the office and we have an unexpected guest."

"Who?"

"Rowan."


	3. A Father's Request

**Posted on August 10, 2017**

 **Author's Note:**

 **I took artistic liberty on Fitz's legal career before his political career, as well as the requirements to maintain a license to practice law - in general, along with the annual fee to maintain the license, there are continuing education requirements (which I don't think a busy politician would have time to do), and other state specific requirements.**

* * *

The last time Fitz saw Rowan was in the Oval when they were discussing B6-13 and Rowan urging him to resurrect it. Fitz's first instinctual question was to ask how Rowan got into the foundation's office building but refrained. He knew Rowan as a former spy who headed a covert ops organization within the CIA would have his ways of getting access into the building. Instead, he asked, "Did he say what he wanted?"

"He needs to speak with you. I asked him what he wanted to discuss with you but he won't tell me. I told him that you were meeting with the President. He highly suggested that I get in contact with you to let you know he was waiting to see you," responded David. "I took the liberty of putting him in the conference room while he is waiting. I did offer him some coffee to which he declined. The QPA team is also here with me at the office. We thought we would pool resources in trying to find out what was happening with Olivia. We have Huck keeping an eye on Rowan through the surveillance camera system."

"Ok. Let Rowan know I'll be at the office shortly. Thanks, David."

"Your welcome."

After Fitz ended the call with David, he returned the cell phone to the Secret Service agent.

When Karen returned to the waiting room, Fitz said to her, "Sweetheart, I need to go back to the office. After the driver drops me off at the foundation, I'll have the driver take you home afterwards." Karen preferred the "homey" feel of Fitz's DC townhouse over the White House and would stay with Fitz when she was in DC.

"No problem, Dad."

Once Fitz, Karen and their Secret Service agents were in the car that was now directed to drive them to the foundation's office, Fitz turned on his cell phone and saw that Marcus left him a voice message. He listened to the message in which Marcus let him know that the end of the evening went well and was heading over to the foundation to drop off the surplus stationary supplies from the black-tie dinner and to stay on to help out with the Olivia situation. When he finished listening to the message, Fitz put his cell phone away in his inner coat pocket. As the driver was making the drive from the White House to the foundation's office, Fitz knew whatever Rowan wanted to talk to him about it concerned Olivia. He was thinking that perhaps Rowan was trying to recruit his help in a "tag team" effort in trying to get Olivia to accept legal counsel.

When the car pull up in front of the office building, Fitz's Secret Service agent got out first before letting him out. After Fitz got out the car, the driver drove off with Karen and her agents inside taking them to Fitz's townhouse.

The Justice Project foundation was housed in a short story loft building which was across the street from the former OPA now QPA office building. The arrangement made it easy for the QPA team to meet with The Justice Project team when discussing clients they were representing to overturn a wrongful conviction. Since it was after regular work hours, a numeric key code would be needed to gain entry into the building. After entering his code, Fitz and the agent walked into the building's lobby and headed into the elevator that would take them to the floor where Fitz's and David's offices were located. When they got on the floor, rather than heading to David's office to let him know he arrived, they proceeded ahead to the conference-meeting room where Rowan was waiting for him. The agent swept the conference room before allowing Fitz to enter it.

As soon as Fitz walked into the conference-meeting room and began to take off his outer coat, Huck, now wearing a pullover top and khakis, was sitting in a converted supply room and keeping an eye on Rowan through camera surveillance, called David on his cell phone and said, "Fitz is in the conference room with Rowan."

A moment later, David, Marcus, Quinn, and Abby, all of them changed out of their black-tie attire into regular business wear, joined Huck in the supply room. Marcus, Quinn and Abby had been hanging out in David's office waiting for Fitz. The only person missing from the QPA team was Charlie who needed to be at home to relieve the babysitter who had been watching baby Hank, Quinn's and Charlie's infant son. David said uneasily, "We really shouldn't be eavesdropping on them like this," as they stood around Huck. As former US Attorney General, David knew better than to eavesdrop since it was a crime.

"We need to. I don't trust Rowan," responded Huck matter-of-factly as he turned on the speakers so they could hear Fitz's and Rowan's conversation. When the foundation's office space was getting set up, the conference-meeting room was equipped with microphones to record lecture presentations that were given by guest speakers invited by the foundation. Guest speakers would be informed in advanced that their lectures would be recorded. In this case, Fitz's and Rowan's conversation wasn't being recorded but rather listened on.

They watched Rowan get animated as he yelled at Fitz, "This is your fault…"

"And how is this my fault?" asked Fitz with an "are you out of your mind" look.

"The Bandar government blackmailing Olivia is in retaliation for you bombing their cyber tower."

"If the Bandar government wanted to retaliate, they should have come after me, not Olivia."

"They had nothing to gain by going after a president who was leaving office but everything with an incoming presidential administration." Rowan paused before saying, "I admit Olivia made herself an easy target for them."

"What do you mean?" asked Fitz. He then realized Rowan knew the reason for Olivia being blackmailed by the Bandar government. "Why is Olivia being blackmailed?"

Rowan took a breath then said, "Luna Vargas's death wasn't a suicide…"

Fitz was stunned shocked with Rowan's statement. What Rowan said meant Olivia had something to do with Luna's death. Rather than him asking for confirmation, Rowan said outrightly, "Olivia arranged for Luna's death," to confirm what he was thinking.

When The Justice Project and QPA teams heard Rowan's statement, they all exchanged shocked glances amongst themselves.

Upon hearing Rowan's confirmation, Fitz needed to sit down. He sat down in one of the chairs that surrounded the conference table and held his head. He wished he had a decanter of scotch in the conference room because he was in definite need of a stiff drink. However, the drink would have to wait. He needed to know Olivia's motivation for her action. "Why?"

"She discovered it was Luna who arranged for Frankie's assassination…"

"What?!" exclaimed Fitz as he looked up at Rowan. He was further stunned shock to hear Luna Vargas orchestrated her husband's assassination. From outwards appearance, the Vargases seemed to have a happy marriage and there hadn't been any suggestion of marriage problems or infidelities during the campaign. "Why did Luna do it?"

Rowan gave a sarcastic laugh and said, "Because she didn't want to be First Lady…"

If The Justice Project and QPA teams were already shocked with the information about Olivia's involvement with Luna Vargas's death, hearing the reason as to why Luna wanted her husband dead left them speechless.

Fitz was still processing what Rowan told him – a woman orchestrated the assassination of her husband, the President-elect of the United States, because she didn't want to be First Lady. It had to be the craziest reason he ever heard of for a presidential assassination.

Rowan continued on with explanation, "Olivia threatened to expose Luna but Luna wasn't going down without a fight, which would have meant President Grant's presidency would have come tumbling down before it even got started," replied Rowan.

Rowan said in a grim voice, "She wasn't thinking there were people or groups watching her. I told you power was changing Olivia - making her dangerous and she needed to be contained. You shouldn't have left her. Had you stayed and been in charge of B6-13, she would have come to you and tell you what was happening. You would have been the voice to counter her. The two of you would have found a way to expose Luna and saved President Grant's presidency. Instead, she took a course of action that made her vulnerable and put her in the mess she is in. She went over the edge and the only way she thinks she can come back is to throw herself at the mercy of the court."

Fitz knew what Rowan was saying was true - Olivia's decision to turn herself to the FBI and to admit to what she did without any legal representation was her way to atone what she had done. He sighed and then said, "We need to talk to her. She needs to get an attorney…"

"That's why I am here. I'm hiring you to be her attorney…" said Rowan.

When Fitz heard the "you", he thought Rowan was referring to the foundation. "Fine. We can ask Olivia's old team…"

"I don't mean Olivia's old team. I mean you, Mr. President. I want you to be Olivia's attorney," said Rowan emphatically.

Fitz gave Rowan an incredulous look. Legal ethics wouldn't prohibit him from representing Olivia in spite of their personal relationship. In theory, he could still practice law - after he graduated from Harvard Law School, he passed the California bar exam, known to be the country's hardest bar exam, and was admitted to practice law and used his high bar exam score to get admitted to practice in DC. He took the trouble of paying the annual fees to maintain the licenses so to avoid the hassle of going through the re-application process of getting licensed. However, his professional experience as an attorney was limited to him working as a judicial clerk for the California federal court system for a couple of years before starting his political career. Even though the foundation was engaged in criminal defense work in regards to getting wrongful convictions overturned, he had no direct professional experience with criminal defense, let alone being a litigator. Asking him to represent Olivia with such a serious criminal matter was like asking a surgery intern to fly solo in performing an organ transplant operation. "Rowan, I can't. I don't have any experience with criminal defense. My only time in the courtroom was being a judicial clerk."

Fitz didn't want to volunteer David for the job of representing Olivia without talking with him about it. "We can talk with David to come up with possible choices. Olivia needs the…"

"What Olivia needs is the former President of the United States to be her legal advocate," said Rowan in a firm voice. "Mr. President, we are both fathers and want what is best for our children. In this case, having you as Olivia's attorney is what is best for her."

Rowan paused and gave Fitz a menacing look that informed him Rowan was dropping all pleasantries and was about get dirty with him. "Mr. President, I am prepared to go all lengths to do what is necessary to ensure that my daughter gets what she needs to help her get out of the mess she is in."

"Meaning?"

"I remember the anguish you and the President went through when the two of you lost your eldest son. I wonder if the two you of would survive the…" before Rowan could finish his sentence, Fitz leaped out of his chair quickly, lunged at him and shouted, "You sick bastard! Stay away from my children!" as he grabbed Rowan by the lapels of his coat.

A moment later, Huck, David, Marcus and Fitz's Secret Service agent flew into the room to get Fitz to let go of Rowan. Following behind them was Quinn and Abby coming into the room. The four men managed to get Fitz to release his grip on Rowan. As they were holding Fitz back, Rowan shook himself to recover from the shock of being grabbed by Fitz. Once he recovered from the shock, Rowan said, "Mr. President, if you honor my request, I will be more than happy to honor yours." He then left the conference-meeting room with Fitz seething.

Huck, David, Marcus and the agent continued to hold Fitz back until they heard the elevator bell ding and its doors open. They wanted Rowan to disappear into the elevator before they let Fitz go. They didn't need to deal with the scandal of the former President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III murdering Mr. Rowan Pope at The Justice Project office, even if it was possibly justified under the circumstances. Once they let go of Fitz, he grabbed an empty glass water pitcher and threw it against the wall with the shattered glass spreading over the carpeted floor. After venting his anger and channeling his violent behavior, Fitz gathered himself together.

Fitz's agent took a cue from Fitz to leave the room so to give Fitz privacy with The Justice Project and QPA teams. Since The Justice Project and QPA teams had come flying into the room to prevent him from killing Rowan, Fitz suspected they had been watching and listening in on his meeting with Rowan. While he should have been angry about being spied upon but he understood why they did it. He also knew he needed to debrief the teams on what he found out about Olivia during his meeting with Mellie to fill in the gap. He instructed everyone to take a seat around the conference table and once everyone sat down, Fitz told them what he learned.

"So, the FBI only has Olivia's confession about helping the Bandar government restart its nuclear program," commented Quinn.

"Yeah," confirmed Fitz.

"But if the Bandar government's denial is true, then Olivia didn't help them restart its nuclear program," said Abby.

"If that is the case, then what the hell did Olivia do?" asked David.

"That's what is we going to find out," said Fitz. "David, I'm going to need your help with this…"

David said without equivocation, "Anything you need."

"Call the FBI and let them know that Olivia has legal counsel and we want to see her tonight." He then added, "If there is evidence to show Olivia did help the Bandaris buy enriched uranium and they got their nuclear program restarted, we need to be prepared for the possibility of the Attorney General filing charges under the Treason Clause. If that is the case, we need be ready to challenge the appropriateness applying the Treason Clause in this case.

David nodded his head and understood Fitz's comment. If he was still US Attorney General, David would be hesitant to file charges under the Treason Clause. Even though Olivia's alleged activities could be regarded treasonous but in his mind, it didn't meet the legal definition of treason under US law.

"We'll start digging to get information on Bandar to find out if there any chatter out there about them restarting its nuclear program. We'll trace the B6-13 wire transfers to find out where the accounts lead to," said Quinn gesturing the current QPA team plus Marcus.

"Good," said Fitz. He gathered his outer coat and said, "I'm going home to get Karen and Teddy to bring them to the White House. They will be safe there. I need to let the President know what is happening." Fitz knew Mellie was already dealing with the humiliation of having her trusted Chief of Staff betray her, and now adding to that humiliation is having her ex-husband representing the Chief of Staff but he was hoping he would get a pass with Mellie for doing so considering what the alternative would be if he didn't. He walked out of conference-meeting room and he and his agent headed towards the elevator.


	4. Ensuring Justice Is Served

**Posted on August 10, 2017**

It was nearly 11PM when Fitz and his agent walked into his townhouse. Since Karen already arrived home, she relieved Teddy's babysitter, former White House nanny Jenn. Fitz presumed Karen was already in her room, possibly asleep. Karen was scheduled to head back to Johns Hopkins in the morning in time for her first class of the day which was in the early afternoon. He quickly bolted up the stairs to get Karen and Teddy while Fitz's agent went to notify Karen's and Teddy's agents that they were on the move.

He knocked on Karen's bedroom door and a moment later, she opened the door. Even though she was wearing her sleepwear – a tee shirt with a pajama bottom, she was still awake.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Karen, I don't have time to explain but you need to get your things together. I'm bringing you and Teddy to the White House to stay with your mother."

The look on Fitz's face let Karen know this wasn't the time for her to challenge him. "Ok, Dad."

Fitz then headed to Teddy's bedroom, opened the door, and turned on the lights. He walked to the bed, sat on the edge of the bed, and began to wake Teddy up. Teddy stirred and when he saw his father, he sat up and said, "Daddy, you're back! How was the fancy party?"

"It was nice," replied Fitz with a big smile. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Teddy's conception, he didn't regret having Teddy. Fitz hated the thought of being parted from him but he needed to do whatever he could to ensure Teddy's safety in light of Rowan's threat. Although his townhouse had an excellent security system, the White House was a fortress. "Teddy, I'm going to bring to you to the White House to stay with Mommy for a few days."

"Are you going away for work?"

"Not exactly but I am going to be busy with something. I promise I will come to the White House to see you while you are with Mommy, ok?"

"Ok."

As Fitz moved off the bed so Teddy could get out of bed, his cell phone rang. He retrieved his phone from his inner coat pocket and saw it was David calling him. "David."

"Fitz, I think we may have a problem..."

Realizing his phone call with David might take some time, Fitz said to Teddy, "Teddy, you can stay in your pajamas. Pack the things you want to bring with you to the White House in your little suitcase. Don't forget your Minion backpack. You'll need it for school. I'll be outside talking with David."

When Fitz was in the hallway, he turned his attention back to his phone. "What's the problem?"

"I called the FBI to let them know Olivia has legal counsel and we want to see her tonight. I didn't mention you were counsel since you haven't told the President and didn't want to blind side her…

"Did they give you a hard time about seeing Olivia tonight?"

"No, that's not it. We can see her. However, one of my FBI contacts informed me they have been interviewing her since she got there which was around 1PM this afternoon, which means the FBI has been interrogating her for about 10 hours now."

"No breaks?"

"Minimal, for the bathroom. I think in the course of the FBI trying to pursue justice for the country, I think they may be compromising Olivia's rights. I know the whole situation is tricky but we are not dealing with a situation of imminent harm and danger and in the spirit of what we are doing here at the foundation…"

"You are right. Do you think they might still be interviewing Olivia now even though they know she has counsel?"

"It's possible. They might continue to do so until we get there. I admit if I was still Attorney General and dealing with a treason case involving a senior White House staff member, I would try to continue the interrogation until the suspect's counsel showed up. I'll head over to the FBI but I think if we want to make sure there are no abuses, our best bet is to have the President call the Attorney General to stop the interrogation. It will be a presidential order the Attorney General will have to follow."

"Right."

After Fitz ended his call with David, he jogged to his bedroom, turned on the lights, and began to quickly change out of his tuxedo into one of his business suits. If he was going to the FBI to be Olivia's attorney, he needed to look professional and not as if he was coming from a social event. After changing into the suit, he took his briefcase and removed the documents, all of which were related to foundation activities, out of it. Even though the briefcase was empty, he needed one to look the part of an attorney. He put on his outer coat, switched off the bedroom lights and went back to Teddy's bedroom.

Since he was in a rush, Fitz didn't bother to check to see what Teddy packed in his little suitcase. Teddy had clothes and shoes at the White House and Fitz also figured if Teddy forgot to pack something, he could bring it over to the White House during his visits. While Teddy was putting on his slippers, Fitz slipped on Teddy's backpack onto one shoulder, took the suitcase handle in one hand and the other hand holding his briefcase. When Teddy was done, the two of them left the bedroom with Fitz turning off the lights before they headed downstairs to the foyer. Karen was already in the foyer with her coat on and carrying her shoulder bag which contained her course reading assignments while her overnight bag was on the floor. After Teddy found his coat on the coat rack and put it on, Fitz's agent opened the front door and four of two of them went outside to the driveway where Fitz's Cadillac was parked. Karen's and Teddy's agents were already in a separate car waiting for them. When the four of them settled into the car, with Fitz at the driver's seat, the agent on the passenger side, Karen in the back seat, and Teddy in his child size car seat in the back, Fitz started the car and pulled out the driveway with the other agents in their car following them. While Fitz was driving, his agent informed him that they notified White House security they were en route and would be dropping off Karen and Teddy at the Residence.

When Fitz pulled his car up in front of the East Wing entrance, he saw that Teddy had fallen asleep during the short drive. Rather than waking him up, Fitz carefully removed him from the car seat and carried him inside the White House, while Karen got out from the back seat with her bags and took Teddy's suitcase and backpack as well. They got into the elevator and rode up to the Residence.

The Residence was empty which meant Mellie was still downstairs in the Oval. Karen and Fitz, who was carrying a sleeping Teddy, headed into the direction of the bedrooms while the agents stayed outside the Residence area.

After Karen dropped down her shoulder bag and overnight bag in front of her bedroom door, she, while carrying Teddy's backpack and wheeling Teddy's suitcase, followed Fitz and Teddy to Teddy's room. Fitz settled Teddy into bed while Karen dropped off the suitcase and backpack into a corner of the bedroom. After getting Teddy into bed, Fitz and Karen headed out the bedroom with Fitz closing the bedroom door behind them.

Before Karen entered her bedroom, Fitz asked, "Karen, can you call your mother, please? Tell her I need to talk with her urgently downstairs in the Oval."

"Sure thing, Dad," replied Karen before she disappeared into her bedroom.

Fitz and his agent got into the elevator and took it down to the West Wing. They headed to the Oval and the agent opened the side entrance door leading to the Oval for Fitz to enter. When he walked into the Oval, he saw that Mellie was in a meeting with her team. Mellie asked her team leave the Oval so to give them privacy.

Mellie gotten Karen's phone call letting her know that Fitz dropped Karen and Teddy off at the Residence and he was heading downstairs to the Oval to talk with her. Mellie said in an agitated voice, "What's going on, Fitz? Why did you bring Teddy to the White House? You know this isn't a good time…"

"I didn't have a choice," Fitz responded back. "Rowan came to see me about Olivia. He wants me to be Olivia's attorney."

"What?!" Is he crazy?!..."

"He didn't give me a choice in the matter, Mellie," said Fitz in a grim voice.

"What do you mean?"

Fitz couldn't say the words but his stone silence and the look on his face told Mellie what she needed to know. "Oh my God, that bastard!...," she exclaimed.

"I brought Karen and Teddy to the White House because it will be safer than my house and we know what this man is capable of." He hesitated before saying, "I need you to call the Attorney General to have the FBI to stop interviewing Olivia, if they haven't already."

Mellie was about to object when Fitz interjected, "What Olivia did was wrong but we can't undermine her rights, either."

Mellie acquiesced and said, "Fine."

"Thank you, Mellie. I'm heading over to the FBI now."

Mellie nodded her head and watched Fitz leave the Oval. She picked up the landline on the Resolute Desk and asked the operator to call the Attorney General. A moment later, she was connected to Rachel Keaton, the US Attorney General.

Rachel was working on the presumption that Mellie wanted an update on the situation but before she had a chance to say something, Mellie said, "Rachel, you and the FBI need to stop interviewing Olivia. She has legal counsel now…"

Rachel had already gotten word that Olivia now had legal counsel and the person who informed the FBI was David. Nonetheless, she was going to push the envelope and wanted to continue on with the interview because of the severity of the crime Olivia was confessing to. "Madam President, even though Olivia has confessed, we still need to know …"

"Well, you and the FBI are going to have to wait to find out. Olivia's interrogation stops now. This is a direct order from the President. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Ethan came into Oval and said, "Madam President, State and CIA are here.

"Send them in."

As Mellie was waiting for the Secretary of State and the CIA Director to come into the Oval, she said over the phone, "Rachel, I need to go." Mellie then placed the handset back on her landline desk phone.

Ethan ushered Secretary of State Lawrence Marshall and his team plus CIA Director Barbara Colson and her team into the Oval. Ethan was a "carryover" from Fitz's administration – he had been asked by Mellie and Olivia to stay on to work with them as "deputy" to the White House Chief of Staff. However, in needing to have an interim Chief of Staff to help her manage the crisis, Mellie offered the appointment to Ethan to which he accepted. As the interim Chief of Staff, he remained in the room for the latest joint debriefing with State and CIA on the crisis.

"What have you found out? Is there evidence to support Olivia's claim so she can be charged?" asked Mellie. She would be addressing the American public, at least East Coast time, early in the morning and she wanted to tell the American people that the US government be prosecuting Olivia to the fullest extent of the law for her criminal actions. More importantly, she was going to impart the message to the American people that Olivia betrayed her, the Oval, and the country. There was also the practical matter of whether the US's national security interests had been compromised as a result of Olivia helping the Bandaris restart their nuclear program. Her Security Council wouldn't be able to make a proper assessment without full details of the Bandaris' nuclear program.

However, Mellie knew she wasn't getting the news she wanted to hear when Lawrence said, "Madam President, we have a problem…"


	5. President-Gladiator Arrives

**Posted on August 10, 2017**

Olivia was sitting inside a FBI interrogation room waiting for the FBI agents and the US Attorney General to come back into the room. She had been sitting in the room since she arrived at the FBI office. She hadn't told anyone of her plan to go to the FBI with her confession. She had gone into the White House early in the morning to give the appearance of having gone to work but disappeared during lunch time to go to the FBI office. The only thing she did before walking into the FBI office was to drop a letter for Fitz in the mailbox which he would receive in a couple days after she plead guilty and sent to jail to wait for her sentencing hearing.

She hadn't told Cyrus and Jake about her plan because if they knew, they would try to stop her out of fear she would implicate them as well. She couldn't confess to Mellie, either. If she told Mellie what she had done, Mellie could not disavow any knowledge about her crime. At least, her going to the FBI in secrecy would protect Mellie even though there would be fall out for Mellie because of what she had done.

The great irony of the situation was that what she done was to protect Mellie and her presidency. It started out with the "forced suicide" of Luna Vargas. Olivia rationalized it as a necessary deed to save Mellie's presidency. She had "resurrected" B6-13 for the purpose of protecting Mellie's presidency and would only use it for that goal. She thought she was "in the right" with her actions but instead everything snowballed on her.

A month after Mellie took office came the clandestine contact from a member of the Bandar government. Olivia's old ties in the Bandar government were no longer in office and there was a new regime in power. While the new regime was publicly regarded to be moderate but there were "conservative" elements. The government official from the new regime showed her the evidence of what happened to Luna – the audio recording and photos of her and Jake with Luna, Luna being made to swallow the pills. The price of protecting the secret of Luna's death would be her helping the Bandar government to restart its nuclear weapons program.

She along with Cyrus and Jake, who had been asked to stay on as NSA Director, came up with a plan to counter the blackmail but it failed. The failed plan only made the situation worse by putting Mellie's presidency in further harm. Her deeds were haunting her, almost like a Shakespearean nightmare. She couldn't look at herself in the mirror. She was seeing bodies and blood in her sleep. Each time she hit the send button on the computer screen to send the monies, she knew she was compromising national security and possibly creating more instability in the world with more nuclear weapons being made. The worst of it all was seeing the Vargas orphaned daughters on a TV news show that had done a special report on the tragedy of the Vargas family.

The secrecy surrounding what she was doing also took a toll on her. She deliberately avoided contact with her old gladiator team and was missing out on their life events, like Quinn's and Charlie's wedding and the birth of their baby. She couldn't talk with or see Fitz out of shame for what she was doing. She knew Fitz would sense something was wrong if he was with her. Her actions undermined Fitz's foreign policy legacy. Not to mention, she had scolded him for resurrecting B6-13 and how it ruined their lives and yet, she resurrected it because it suited her needs in order to maintain power and to be in the White House.

 _Power and the White House_. The two things her father coveted for her and she got it. She wanted the White House but not as the First Lady but as the second powerful woman in DC as the White House Chief of Staff. However, her desire for power may have ultimately costed her relationship with Fitz. Whatever plans for a life together would not happen if she was going to jail for the rest of life or be executed. As the thought crossed her mind, Olivia could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

 _I have a foundation to run and you have a world to change._ Fitz's words echoed in her head. In truth, she hadn't changed the world. Rather, she may have caused more harm with what she had done in order for her to keep her power and to be in the White House. Perhaps, it was Fitz who was changing the world with his foundation with the help of her former gladiator team.

Olivia wondered if all her years of being a white hat gladiator was a façade to fight against what was her true nature which was the embodiment of what was evil about her parents. However, unlike her parents, she will do the time for the crime. Perhaps the white hat gladiator wasn't really a façade but something she had lost during her quest in finding and keeping power. She will have plenty of time to think about the things.

She wanted her arraignment to take place as soon as possible. She would plead guilty and be sent to jail while she waited to be sentenced. She didn't know if her sentence would be the death penalty or life imprisonment. It was up to US Attorney General Rachel Keaton to recommend the sentence. No doubt Rachel would be consulting with Mellie about it. Olivia didn't know if Mellie's rage at her for her betrayal would put Mellie over the edge and she would recommend the death penalty.

While Olivia was sitting in the interrogation room, David arrived at the FBI building. He took the elevator to the floor where Olivia was being held for her interrogation. When he got off the elevator, he proceeded to look for US Attorney General Rachel Keaton. David met Rachel when she took office and helped her with the transition. He managed to find her when she emerged out of a room.

David called out her name and she turned her head and saw him. She approached him and said, "Hi David. I got word that you called the FBI to let them know Olivia has legal counsel. I'm presuming you are her counsel."

"Actually, I'm co-counsel. Lead counsel will be arriving soon."

"Who is lead counsel?"

At that moment, Fitz and his agent got off the elevator. Fitz recognized Rachel Keaton as the current US Attorney General and quickly walked over to where she was standing with David while his agent moved away from him to give him privacy. He didn't pay attention to the fact that FBI agents and staff stopped in their tracks when they saw him walking out of the elevator and heading in the direction where Rachel was.

Rachel saw Fitz coming towards them, she said loudly, "Oh damn! It can't be."

"It is," replied David in an unequivocal voice. "Former President Fitzgerald Grant III is Olivia's lawyer."

When Fitz arrived at the spot where David and Rachel were, he extended his hand to Rachel and said, "Ms. Keaton, I'm…"

"I know who you are, Mr. President," said Rachel as she took Fitz's hand for a handshake.

"I just got retained as Olivia's attorney. I want to see her."

"Of course, Mr. President. I'll take you to where she is being held."

The three of them plus Fitz's agent walked to the interrogation room where Olivia was sitting in. The FBI agents who were assigned to the case and standing outside the room became speechless when they saw the former POTUS and the former US Attorney General standing in front of them.

Olivia was sitting in the room lost in her thoughts when the door opened. She was thinking Rachel and the FBI agents were coming back into the room to continue on with the interrogation. Instead, a FBI agent announced, "Ms. Pope, your attorney is here."

"I didn't ask for an attorney," replied back Olivia in a surprised voice. She had no idea how she could have gotten an attorney when she hadn't asked for one. She then saw Fitz, wearing one of his elegant business suits with his overcoat on top of it and holding a briefcase in his left hand, standing in the doorway. Even after being out of office, Fitz still had a presidential aura to his appearance. He entered into the room and said, "Hi."

"Hi," she replied back. Rather than being happy to see Fitz, Oliva was feeling distressed to have him there at the FBI. She didn't want him to be her knight in shining armor to save her. She didn't want him to be dragged into the mess. Her mess.

She was to going to tell him she didn't want or need his help and to leave. She knew in order to make her demand taken seriously, she needed to be standing up and looking at Fitz directly in the eye. However, she got up from her chair too quickly and started to feel light headed. All of the sudden the room turned dark on her and Olivia felt her legs give away underneath her. The last thing Olivia heard was Fitz's loud voice shouting, "Livie!" and felt him holding her so she wouldn't fall onto the floor.


End file.
